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100912

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Discretionary Housing Payments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many local authorities in (a) Wales and (b) the UK returned unused discretionary housing payment to his Department in 2013-14.
tabling member constituency	Aberconwy
tabling member printed	Guto Bebb
uin	221890
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>In 2013-14, 240 local authorities in Great Britain spent less than 100% of their total Government contribution in DHP, of which 5 were in Wales. Thirteen local authorities, of which two were in Wales, reported expenditure which exactly matched their Government contribution.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>In June, the Government published an analysis of local authority DHP expenditure in 2013-14, which can be found at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322455/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-june-2014.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322455/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-june-2014.pdf</a></p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 29/10/2014 16:26:33 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	3910 label Biography information for Guto Bebb

100913

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Discretionary Housing Payments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much each local authority in (a) Wales and (b) the UK returned to his Department in unused discretionary housing payment funding in 2013-14.
tabling member constituency	Aberconwy
tabling member printed	Guto Bebb
uin	221891
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Five local authorities in Wales spent less than their 2013-14 Government contribution in Discretionary Housing Payments. These were:</p><p> </p><p><strong>Local Authority Government Contribution Amount Unspent</strong></p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>Ceredigion</p></td><td><p>£324,933</p></td><td><p>£290</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Conwy</p></td><td><p>£267,700</p></td><td><p>£1,498</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Gwynedd</p></td><td><p>£605,141</p></td><td><p>£20,072</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Newport</p></td><td><p>£343,870</p></td><td><p>£1</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Pembrokeshire</p></td><td><p>£193,940</p></td><td><p>£4,176</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p>Details for all 240 local authorities in Great Britain which spent less than their 2013-14 Government contribution in DHP are provided in the attached annex.</p><p /> <p /> <p>For the remaining 140 local authorities across Great Britain, of which 17 were in Wales, DHP expenditure in 2013-14 either matched or exceeded the Government contribution.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 29/10/2014 16:10:27 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb attachment 1 file name UnspentDHPGB.PDF title Unspent DHP GB
tabling member	3910 label Biography information for Guto Bebb

100919

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Universal Credit
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of universal credit access to childcare accounts equivalent to those proposed in the Childcare Payments Bill for claimants of tax-free childcare.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	211857
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Universal credit prepares claimants for the world of work in which around 75% of employees are paid monthly and in arrears. Monthly payment of benefit, which includes support for childcare costs that have been paid out, makes for more straightforward reporting and helps households to budget on a monthly income, which eases the transition into paid work.</p><p> </p><p>Moving to a system of ‘childcare accounts’ which ring-fences childcare costs would complicate the system for these claimants. It would add complexity to the Universal Credit system, which is being rolled out in a safe and controlled manner and could potentially increase the administration costs of running two systems in parallel.</p><p> </p><p>We have worked with Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to support claimants that may wish to switch between Universal Credit and Tax Free Childcare. It will be easy for parents to register and open a childcare account online for Tax Free Childcare, and those who wish to move back to Universal Credit may do so without having to report the change to HMRC. Both systems are designed to be simple, responsive and flexible.</p><p> </p><p>We recognise the importance of providing information and support to help parents make an informed choice about which scheme to access. Alongside wider guidance and information, we will provide support and online tools for parents choosing between Universal Credit and Tax-Free Childcare.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 29/10/2014 14:39:47 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

100920

registered interest
date	24/10/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Employment: Older Workers
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the findings of the Mid-life Career Review Project.
tabling member constituency	East Ham
tabling member printed	Stephen Timms
uin	211858
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>I welcome the findings of the Mid-life Career Review. As identified in our publication “Fuller Working Lives – A Framework For Action”, re-skilling is an essential component in ensuring that people can work, earn and save for as long as they wish. A number of lessons learned from the pilot have already been integrated into existing career and skills provider practice, and the Department for Work and Pensions and Department for Business, Innovation and Skills will continue to work with the National Careers Service and the wider network of advisers in the community, and with business, on ways to meet career review needs.</p><p> </p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 29/10/2014 14:51:16 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	163 label Biography information for Sir Stephen Timms

100826

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Job Evaluation
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the procedure is in his Department for assessing grade boundaries and job roles; and how often such assessments take place.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	211827
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 28/10/2014 answer text <p>DWP uses two job evaluation schemes, which are widely utilised across the Civil Service.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>1. Job Evaluation and Grading Support (JEGS), an analytical points-based system which is used by trained evaluators to rank roles from AA to Grade 6. This also incorporates Grading Guidance which provides an analytical matching of posts based on JEGS, a good level of assurance and is less resource intensive than a full evaluation.</p><p> </p><p>2. Job Evaluation for Senior Posts (JESP) which is similar to JEGS but used to evaluate posts in the Senior Civil Service.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>DWP evaluates all new roles and roles where there has been a fundamental or material change in job content using one of these schemes.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Information on JEGS, including use of grading guidance, is available at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/job-evaluation-and-grading-support-jegs-for-civil-servants" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/job-evaluation-and-grading-support-jegs-for-civil-servants</a></p><p> </p><p> </p><p>Information on JESP is available at <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/job-evaluation-for-senior-posts-good-practice-guide" target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/job-evaluation-for-senior-posts-good-practice-guide</a></p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 28/10/2014 14:19:49 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

100827

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Performance Appraisal
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department have more than one member of staff on personal improvement plans.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	211826
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>The Department does not centrally maintain fully comprehensive records of all employees who have been placed under performance improvement plans as many of these are dealt with informally.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb grouped question UIN 211824 211825 question first answered 29/10/2014 14:54:48 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

100829

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Performance Appraisal
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department (a) are on a personal improvement plan, (b) have been on a personal improvement plan for over one year and (c) have been on a personal improvement plan for more than two consecutive years; and what the grades are or were of such staff.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	211824
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>The Department does not centrally maintain fully comprehensive records of all employees who have been placed under performance improvement plans as many of these are dealt with informally.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb grouped question UIN 211825 211826 question first answered 29/10/2014 14:54:48 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

100830

registered interest
date	23/10/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Performance Appraisal
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many staff in his Department are responsible for mentoring staff on personal improvement plans.
tabling member constituency	North Durham
tabling member printed	Mr Kevan Jones
uin	211825
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 29/10/2014 answer text <p>The Department does not centrally maintain fully comprehensive records of all employees who have been placed under performance improvement plans as many of these are dealt with informally.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb grouped question UIN 211824 211826 question first answered 29/10/2014 14:54:48 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	1438 label Biography information for Mr Kevan Jones

100538

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Social Fund
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average wait for a decision on a social fund application was in each year since 2003.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
uin	211466
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>Table 1 below shows the average wait (in days) for decisions on a Social Fund application for each year from 2003 and a breakdown by application type.</p><p> </p><p>No data is provided for 2014. This is because the number of applications and waiting times vary seasonally, meaning that an average only covering part of the year is not comparable with whole year averages shown from 2003-2013.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>Average wait (days)</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Funeral Payments</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Community Care Grants</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Crisis Loans</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Budgeting Loans</strong></p></td><td><p><strong>Sure Start Maternity Grants</strong></p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2003</strong></p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>8.3</p></td><td><p>1.2</p></td><td><p>2.7</p></td><td><p>4.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2004</strong></p></td><td><p>13.5</p></td><td><p>8.2</p></td><td><p>1.3</p></td><td><p>3.0</p></td><td><p>4.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2005</strong></p></td><td><p>12.1</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>1.4</p></td><td><p>2.9</p></td><td><p>4.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2006</strong></p></td><td><p>12.5</p></td><td><p>9.1</p></td><td><p>1.5</p></td><td><p>3.2</p></td><td><p>3.9</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2007</strong></p></td><td><p>13.4</p></td><td><p>10.9</p></td><td><p>1.6</p></td><td><p>4.5</p></td><td><p>4.8</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2008</strong></p></td><td><p>14.3</p></td><td><p>11.3</p></td><td><p>1.8</p></td><td><p>5.1</p></td><td><p>5.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2009</strong></p></td><td><p>14.8</p></td><td><p>13.3</p></td><td><p>2.0</p></td><td><p>5.3</p></td><td><p>5.0</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2010</strong></p></td><td><p>15.3</p></td><td><p>8.9</p></td><td><p>2.1</p></td><td><p>5.4</p></td><td><p>4.7</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2011</strong></p></td><td><p>13.1</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>2.1</p></td><td><p>5.0</p></td><td><p>4.3</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2012</strong></p></td><td><p>14.6</p></td><td><p>7.5</p></td><td><p>3.0</p></td><td><p>4.9</p></td><td><p>3.6</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>2013</strong></p></td><td><p>17.1</p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p> </p></td><td><p>5.5</p></td><td><p>4.0</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>1. These figures do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System.</p><p> </p><p>2. No average wait time is reported for Community Care Grants or Crisis Loans in 2013. This is because these payments were replaced by Local Welfare Provision in March 2013.</p><p> </p><p>3. The clearance time for an individual Social Fund loan or grant is measured in whole working days from the date the application is received until the date the decision is taken. The minimum clearance time recorded for an individual case is one working day, even if the application is cleared immediately.</p><p> </p><p>4. Cold Weather Payments are not included in Table 1. These are made automatically if the claimant is eligible at the time of the cold weather trigger, so there is no decision to be made.</p><p> </p><p>5. All figures are provided to 1 decimal place.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 27/10/2014 13:51:34 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram

100539

registered interest
date	22/10/2014
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Funeral Payments
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications were made to the Social Fund to cover the cost of funerals in each year since 2010; and how many of those applications were rejected.
tabling member constituency	Liverpool, Walton
tabling member printed	Steve Rotheram
uin	211468
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/10/2014 answer text <p /> <p>From the latest data available, 305,840 applications have been made for Funeral Payments in Great Britain between January 2010 and September 2014, the latest data available. In the same period there have been 151,620 refusals.</p><p> </p><p>Table 1 below shows the number of applications and refusals for each year. Note that 2014 data only extends to September thus far.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td><p>2010</p></td><td><p>2011</p></td><td><p>2012</p></td><td><p>2013</p></td><td><p>2014 (Jan-Sep)</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Applications</p></td><td><p>66,780</p></td><td><p>70,990</p></td><td><p>66,390</p></td><td><p>62,200</p></td><td><p>39,470</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Refusals</p></td><td><p>33,350</p></td><td><p>36,330</p></td><td><p>34,540</p></td><td><p>29,200</p></td><td><p>18,190</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p> </p><p> </p><p><strong>Notes</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>1. These figures do not include applications which were processed clerically and have not yet been entered on to the Social Fund Computer System.</p><p> </p><p>2. The figures given are the number of applications and initial refusals in the given time period and not the number of people who made applications or received awards. An individual may make more than one application in a year. Information on the number of people who made applications and received awards is not available.</p><p>.</p><p>3. The refusal figures given are based on the initial decisions made on each case and may include cases where an award was later made on review.</p><p> </p><p>4. All figures are rounded to the nearest 10.</p> answering member constituency Thornbury and Yate answering member printed Steve Webb question first answered 27/10/2014 13:57:49 answering member 220 label Biography information for Steve Webb
tabling member	4035 label Biography information for Steve Rotheram